By Sue Bergstrom for Valdez City News –
Valdez now has another claim to fame. It’s the home of Alaska’s first and present governors, the town that was moved after being destroyed as a result of the 1964 earthquake, home of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and now the location of the first commercial marijuana store in the state to open. Herbal Outfitters of Valdez has just made Alaska history.
Owners Rick and Connie Ballou were already well on their way to their new commercial enterprise last May when they applied for their retail license. They spent the summer re-modeling the building at 165 Fairbanks in Valdez. Locals kept an eye on the progress as truckloads of materials were unloaded, construction site dumpsters filled, scaffolds erected and torn down. Custom cabinetry was made by local craftsman Scott Benzo and is finished with sativa oil. Rick said the whole process has been a lot of fun, dealing with many wonderful people, especially their staff. His eyes shone as he spoke, minutes away from the grand opening.
At high noon on Saturday, October 29th, Herbal Outfitters welcomed their first customer. People were lined up from the door, out to the sidewalk and down it well before the opening time. The two young men who were first and second in line stepped aside so that gray-haired, bearded Michael Holcombe could be the first person in Alaska to legally buy marijuana in a retail store. He was admitted by the Ballows and Derek their charming and efficient, if slightly nervous, general manager. Holcombe was ushered into the reception area, which is a separate room everyone must pass through before entering the store proper, and his id checked. Then Connie opened the door into the sales area with a smile.
Inside the warm and welcoming shop area there are displays of tee shirts, caps and other items for sale. The glass-fronted counter is chock full. It includes the usual paraphernalia that is sold in any head shop; pipes, bongs, papers, etc. But it also includes marijuana vaping supplies, creams with a low THC content for use to fight arthritis and other pain issues and lotions and lip balms made with hemp products. An aisle of green tape runs in front of the counter indicating that it’s where the next five customers should line up for service. Five people is the maximum that can be served at the counter at any one time. But Holcombe had the store to himself except for staff and media. So he stepped right up to the counter where the entire staff of bud-tenders and the manager waited to assist him. There are ‘menus’ posted on either side of the glass-topped counter describing the product but, as he said older people do, he preferred to look at and smell several of the varieties on display. It was like a cross between a wine-tasting and a kid in a candy store as he checked out samples (by sight and smell only, no touching), commented and selected his purchases; a gram of this, two grams of that. When he had finished his selections, they were read back to him for verification and the order filled. Some varieties had been pre-packaged in small ziplocks and others were weighed in front of the customer and put into bags. Each packet bore a label describing what was inside. These were accompanied by a much longer slip with more details and required legal language. Once that was done and the order totaled it was across the store to the ATM machine in the corner. Marijuana transactions have to be made in cash due to conflicts with federal banking law. When she spoke in Valdez in December, 2015, Cynthia Franklin, Director of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, explained that the federal government is taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude toward legalized pot. (link to VCN story) But thus far bankers have been unwilling to risk accepting funds from pot businesses, which are still illegal enterprises according to federal law.
After the first purchase was accomplished and Holcombe received his souvenir cap and tee shirt, the customers waiting patiently outside began to be let through; five in the store and ten in the reception area at any given time. Out in the parking area, Holcombe gave his souvenirs to the young men who had given up their place in line so they could each have both a shirt and a hat. He said, “I just feel lucky to have been the first.” There were still twenty people in line outside the store at 2:45. People didn’t seem to mind the wait at all, despite the rain. They chatted, smiled and laughed, apparently just glad to be there.
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But it’s possible that this could all be temporary. A community petition to opt out of commercial marijuana businesses in Valdez gathered enough support to put the question on the ballot in the spring. If it passes, Herbal Outfitters would have ninety days to close. One patient customer, waiting in line outside the building said that was why he was there; that he didn’t need to buy anything from the shop. He just wanted people to see how many people supported it and to demonstrate that the customers were just their friends and neighbors, not criminals or a danger to anyone.
When asked about the opposition to their business, Connie Ballow said, “It takes two people to fight and we’re not fighting with anybody. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. We seriously respect that. Hopefully as this industry progresses everybody will become more informed about the benefits of legal cannabis. I don’t have to be the one to change those people’s minds. The plant itself will do that.”
When asked for a quote for this story, Rick Ballow said, “I don’t have no enemies and I won’t accept any.”
For some background on the petition to opt out, follow the link to the May 22 Valdez City News story
